Unknown- A Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 37- No Ma'm

At those words, numb turned to panic and I snatched up a pair of pants, shoes, and Reid's sweater, letting him grab my arm and drag me through the apartment--why weren't we going out the window again?

We burst into the hallway and instinct kicked in. I dashed across the hall and pounded on Mrs. Mulcahy's door, glancing frantically down the hallway for the man who was trying to kill me.  There was no one there, yet, but I dragged Reid with me as we shoved past Mrs. Mulcahy and into her apartment the minute she opened her door so I wouldn't have a chance to see my stalker. Or, more accurately, he wouldn't have a chance to see me.

I spun and threw all three locks on the door before dropping against it, panting as the clothes I had snatched up spilled from my arms.

"Charlie, what in heaven's name is going on?" Mrs. Mulcahy asked, baffled, before noticing Reid.  "Who is this young man?  What happened to your clothes?" she questioned and then shot Reid a dirty look.

"Sorry, Mrs. Mulcahy.  I'm hiding from a crazy ex-boyfriend," I heaved out the most reasonable lie I could think of.

She believed it, exclaiming curiously, "You didn't tell me you were seeing someone!  Is that who came and destroyed your apartment last night?"

"Yeah, he was being a real dick when I wouldn't answer my phone," I offered a totally false explanation.  Funny, it still hurt with the amount of truth it held.

"Well I hope this new boyfriend of yours has more respect for you, but I have to say he's not off to a very good start considering your state of undress," she said, giving Reid a glare as she stepped in front of me.

"No, ma'm, I--" Reid started to fumble an apology despite the fact that this wasn't even the first time he'd seen me in my underwear.  Not that it'd be in either of ours best interest to let Mrs. Mulcahy know that, either.

Mrs. Mulcahy shushed him with a finger and then ushered me to her bathroom to finish getting dressed.

"So you don't get any more ideas, young man," I heard her accuse Reid from where she was standing on the other side of the door, guarding me from the prying eyes of my coworker. 

It wasn't quite amusing enough to make me laugh, but I did catch a glimpse of a smile on my face in the mirror as I finished pulling my clothes on.  Almost enough to make me forget that the reason I was hiding in my eighty-year-old neighbor's apartment at eight o'clock in the morning was because my life was currently being threatened by a stalker who may or may not be just outside in the hallway.

"I wasn't--I'm not her boyfriend, I just work with her.  She needed a ride so I stopped by to pick her up and then her ex-boyfriend showed up," I heard Reid trying to placate Mrs. Mulcahy.

"And you entered her apartment while she wasn't even decent?" she asked him incredulously.

"I promise, I wouldn't do something like that normally, ma'm, but Charlie was in danger.  Her st-ex," he quickly corrected himself, "can get mean sometimes."

Before Reid had to defend himself any further, I came out of the bathroom, fully dressed now, and then went to check through the peephole to see if there were any suspicious knife-wielding psychopaths lurking in the hallway.  Of course there wasn't, though.

I glanced at Reid before gesturing him over to the peephole to check for himself, asking nervously, "Are you sure you saw him?"

"He was in the alley, I saw him through your bedroom window since the door wasn't closed tightly.  Maybe he guessed we were running and is planning on waiting you out," he suggested, his voice low enough that Mrs. Mulcahy couldn't quite overhear.